CHENNAI: The protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) raged on at the University of Madras Chepauk campus from 1pm on Tuesday as a group of students staged a sit-in after the police detained two UoM students.
University officials made several attempts to convince the students to withdraw their protests but even at 10 pm close to 50 students continued the sit-in, stating they would continue the protests for at least 48 hours.
A posse of close to 200 police personnel entered the campus in the evening and were stationed near the students, fuelling speculations that the protesters would be arrested. As the hours passed, the number of police personnel in the campus fell sharply. Police officials said they had come to the campus for "protection" at the request of university officials. "We have reduced the strength of personnel since the protests are peaceful," a senior police officer at the spot told Express.
The protests were sparked by police action earlier in the day. At around 11 am, a group of 60 students from the Chennai campus of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS-BALM) arrived at the Marina Beach to participate in a protest against CAA scheduled at the university. On learning of their intentions, police detained them and had them escorted back to their campus at Kovalam in a MTC bus. However, two University of Madras students, who questioned the police about this, were apprehended by the police and taken to the Triplicane police station.
As news of this spread, around 100 students gathered near the entrance of the varsity's Chepauk campus and started a sit-in protest, demanding the immediate release of the two students. "Anja maatom oya maatom", "student unity zindabad", "Fascist government Modi government" and "Down down BJP" were among the slogans raised by the students.
"We are students here, coming from villages across the state, not for fun, but to rewrite our generation's ignorance. We will not be afraid for these threats. Students will be the voice for the rights of all in society, including the cops," said V Sunil Kumar, a research scholar from political science department. "We are speaking for the cops' children too. Our voice is for the voiceless. We will not withdraw our struggle. Not just on behalf of TN but of the Indian union," he said.
Jenny Bharathi, a journalism student told Express the CAA is unconstitutional, affecting the communal sentiments of the nation, especially "discriminating against Islamic brothers and sisters". "It has to be withdrawn by the fascist BJP immediately and until then our protests will not fade," she said.
Students from various departments of the university took part in the protest. At around 6 pm, Senate member and Director of Legal Studies N S Santhosh Kumar and the University's Registrar Srinivasan addressed the students.
"Students must withdraw the protest and go back home. The two detained by police are safe and will be safely dropped at their homes," Santhosh Kumar told the students. Initially the students' main demand was the release of the two who were detained. However, over time, the mood changed. The students said the two detained students were ready to be remanded and their protest was mainly against the CAA.
"We are here for the nationwide protest against the CAA. The two detained students are even ready to be remanded, and go to jail, because our goal is to remove CAA," said Valarmathi, a student of the political science department.
After a break to discuss further action, the students decided to continue the protest for the entire night. "Our motive is to record our dissent against the apprehension of the two students, at least for the next 48 hours" said Sunil.
Meanwhile, university officials evaded questions on whether they had requested police protection and allowed the personnel to enter the campus. Speaking to reporters, Santhosh Kumar said since the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, protests should not happen. He reiterated that the two detained students were safe and police might even drop them at their homes if required. He said the university had declared a holiday on Wednesday (December 18).